Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night.

Overwritten

Prologue

The Tokyo night was cold.

Even though winter would soon give way to spring, it was still cold, though it wasn't snowing. Despite this however, the famous Tokyo nightlife was alive. People of all ages and occupations, from underage to those passing their prime, from the respectable to the less than respectable, men and women alike thronged the streets of the Japanese capital, either coming and going from one place or another, or just reveling to cut loose in the scant few hours of freedom that was the lot of Japanese urbanites.

The sound of vehicle engines, of countless voices chitchatting, and hundreds of other sounds besides filled the air, while the glow of neon lights, incandescent and fluorescent lights, car lights, and others beside, melted together in a diffuse but bright glow that percolated up from the city, and together with the clouds above blotted out the stars.

The skyscrapers and other buildings of Tokyo reached upwards from the ground, some dark others brightly lit, but most dotted with a scattering of light that filtered through curtains or flowed freely from unobstructed windows. Most skyscrapers belonged to the corporate giants of Japan, while others belonged to the government or were shared between a variety of organizations. Others were residential in nature.

In contrast, the suburbs were more subdued. The night air was silent, the winter cold at night unforgiving to either insects or birds or indeed, most life. Cats and dogs could be heard yowling or barking at times, but it was rare, the people keeping their pets inside with them in the warmth of their homes.

And while the light pollution bleeding out from the heart of the Japanese capital and dispersing through the clouds still blotted out the stars, the night wasn't nearly as obnoxiously half-lit as it was in the heart of the city.

In a small house in the suburbs, a dark-haired girl in a school uniform and an apron hummed softly to herself as she gently stirred a pot of soup on her stove. Dark eyes were fixed attentively on the creamy mix bubbling on a low heat, gauging the texture with ease born of experience.

They blinked as a ringing sound echoed through her apartment, and with no one else present at home the girl sighed before reducing the heat to minimum, tapped her ladle against the rim, and setting it aside, covered the pot. The girl walked then walked briskly out of the kitchen, making her way to the foyer and where the phone rested on a small wooden table.

She paused as she saw the caller ID.

It was her school's number.

The phone rang once, twice, three times more, and still the girl stood there silent and unmoving. And then, squeezing her right forearm, she reached out and picked up the phone.

She hesitated. And then…

"Yes, this is the Murasaki residence. May I help you?"

Hello Akizuki. I…I've always…always wanted to meet you. I…I am your father.

Two Weeks Ago

"Father always told me to never to go to that city."

There were two of them, sitting at a table in a high-class coffee shop in upper Tokyo. One of them was a schoolgirl with dark hair and matching irises, while the other was a tall old man in old-fashioned European clothes, with irises red as blood.

"He said it was worth my life to come to that city." Akizuki 'Aki' Murasaki said. She clutched at her right forearm, and squeezed tight. "That's also why I couldn't use his name. That's why he couldn't be there when I was growing up. That's why I don't have a mother, and why father eventually never came back."

Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg gazed silently at the girl sitting opposite him. "How did he die?" Aki asked in a whisper. "Please, tell me."

Zelretch stayed silent. Aki lowered her face slightly. "You won't tell me?" she whispered.

"Do you really want to know?"

Aki lowered her face further, but after a few moments she raised it. "Yes." She said resolutely and Zelretch briefly closed his eyes.

"Have you ever heard of the saying, save a bullet for yourself?"

Aki closed her eyes, looking away with her twisting with grief. Tears trickled down, before she furiously wiped them away. "He died to keep you safe." Zelretch said softly. "I'm sure he had no regrets."

"How would you know?" Aki angrily spat.

"I don't." Zelretch said bluntly. "But I believe he did. Sometimes, all you need is faith."

Aki stayed silent, and after a moment Zelretch continued. "He used Black Talon bullets." He said with a tone of profound respect. "A single one was enough to keep your 'grandfather' from finding anything out from his corpse. A final, defiant gesture from your father against his own father."

"Are you enjoying yourself, telling me how my father died?"

"Is that really what you think?"

Aki blinked, her eyes widening, and she looked away in shame. "Sorry." She said. "I shouldn't have said that."

"It's alright." Zelretch said with a small smile. "I understand. There's a school of thought that says being immortal cheapens their perceptions of the lives of others, but in my experience, all it means is that I can do nothing but watch as friends and people I care for grow old and leave me behind."

Zelretch paused and sighed, looking out the glass windows at the busy Tokyo street outside. "And," he said. "It also means I get to see people make the same mistakes over and over again, the same tragedies and comedies playing out repeatedly over the centuries."

"Is that why you want me to accept this curse?" Aki asked, a hand again tightening on her arm. "You want to go that place my father told me never to go to? Risk the life he gave his for?"

Zelretch sighed, looking down into his coffee cup. "You have to admit it's only fitting that one of Matou blood if not name corrects their mistakes for good." He said, and smiled as Aki made to retort. "And don't deny it: you want to avenge your father, don't you?"

Aki closed her mouth, looking away but with eyes flickering with anger. It struck a chord of worry in Zelretch though he quickly brushed it aside. Aki's Matou blood was diluted, enough to keep the madness it had accumulated over the centuries at bay.

"I knew it was a possibility that you could be selected as a Master." Zelretch said. "Their blood flows in your veins after all. The choice is only between you and that wayward student of mine."

"Is that why you taught me magecraft?" Aki asked. "Just in case this would happen?"

"Of course not," Zelretch said with a scoff. "I taught it to you, and your father consented to it, so you could protect yourself in general. It is too dangerous, for someone untrained, even as average as you are, to know about our world. And I cannot be there to protect you all the time, despite the promise I gave your father. Even at the height of my power, I was never all-powerful or all-knowing."

Aki was silent, unwilling to trust her voice or her self-control. "You don't have to go if you don't want to." Zelretch eventually said. "It's entirely your choice whether or not you accept the 'curse' as you put it, and join the coming Holy Grail War."

Aki didn't respond at once, but she eventually gave a derisive snort. "There's a 'but' coming there, I just know it." She said, and Zelretch laughed briefly.

"You're a bit slow, but never stupid or unperceptive." He said, and Aki snorted again. But she didn't deny it. It was true after all. "More to the point though, is that I believe taking the lead and with it action is better than letting the enemy come to you on his terms."

"The opposite is also true." Aki shot back. "Taking the fight to an enemy means they can meet you on their terms."

"I suppose that's true." Zelretch said, but then his expression grew stern. "But, Zouken knows you exist, even if he doesn't know your name or your face. Your father's sacrifice has bought you some time, and you look nothing like him. Except for the eyes: you are your father's child in that regard."

"In short, I should take this opportunity to end my grandfather's threat before he finds me?"

"I cannot protect you all the time." Zelretch said. "And your grandfather has resources beyond what your father left you. And you know I still have to supplement that from time to time."

"Then take me with you."

Zelretch smiled sadly. "You know nothing of what responsibilities my power places on me." He said. "Even the Holy Grail Wars are as nothing compared to the enemies which I face, enemies which only I can face. Enemies that require nothing less than True Magic to defeat, failure leading to consequences you cannot possibly imagine. And even with the power of True Magic, there are enemies which I am not guaranteed to win against."

"So finish him before he finishes me?" Aki whispered. "Do you realize what you're asking me to do? Me, barely a magus, taking on my centuries-old grandfather?"

"Zouken is powerful, yes." Zelretch conceded. "But he's not as powerful as he should be. The centuries have taken their toll on him. He has forgotten much, and with it many of his mysteries. And also…"

Zelretch paused, his eyes narrowing. "If you choose to participate in the coming war," he said. "You will have a Servant of your own. That's an immense equalizer."

Aki was silent, and after a moment Zelretch finished his coffee and dispelled the bounded field. "I've given you much to think about." He said while signaling for the bill. "So I'll give you time to think about it."

A waiter came and handed the bill over, and Zelretch took a glance before paying for both their meals. "Keep the change." He told the waiter, and the man bowed after seeing the amount Zelretch had paid and mentally calculating the difference. As the waiter left, the sorcerer turned back to Aki.

"I've paid for yours as well." He said with a gentle smile as he stood up. "I'll be taking my leave. You know how to contact me, but please, do so in a week at most."

"What do you think I should do?" Aki whispered.

Zelretch didn't answer immediately. But eventually…

"Sometimes," he said. "You have to look back into the past, so you can move on into the future."

With a nod, Zelretch left, Aki rising to bow as he did so.

The Present

"Yes, this is the school administration. We're calling to inform you that your request for a leave of absence has been approved. Please keep in mind that you are still obliged to keep up with your expected level of performance and other academic requirements upon your return to school following the resolution of your family emergency."

"Yes, I understand."

"Well then, Murasaki-san we wish you a good evening."

"Yes, thank you and good evening too."

Aki lowered the phone, and placed it back on its cradle. She stood still in the hallway for a time, and then with a sigh returned to the kitchen. She briefly checked on her dinner, and then made her way to another room.

There, she knelt down before a small wooden shrine with hinged doors in front. She opened them, to show a small, framed picture of a man with dark hair and dark eyes, standing beside a woman that heavily resembled Aki, the two smiling at the camera. Smiling sadly, Aki took two sticks of incense, lit them, and placed them before her parents' picture. Placing her hands together, she gave a prayer for their peace, and then gave her apologies.

"Sorry father," she silently said. "Your daughter is so selfish. She's going to disobey you, and go to that city you told her never to go to. But don't worry: I'm not doing this for revenge. I'm doing this so I don't have to stay under Matou's shadow for the rest of my life. And I don't plan on dying either. So, rest easy, father."

A/N

Posting this to clear my head, and so I can work on updating existing fics. No new ones to come from now on.

Akizuki is written in Japanese as 秋月, which reads as 'Autumn Moon'. Her surname is Murasaki, written as 紫, which literally reads as 'purple'.

Yes, her father is Kariya Matou (deceased). I'll keep her mother secret for now, as is why Zelretch actually got off his butt for once and decided to (indirectly) bring his wayward apprentice to (finally) heel.